Sign construction



Sept. 22, 1931. c. E. Fl'rcH SIGN CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 22. 1930 I i l l l D l1 il ll IUI Patented Sept. 22, 1931 UNI-TED srA'rEsPA'rsN'r oFFlcs iomtmn n Irren, or wmnm rumors, salomon 'ro e. n. s.-Im vnr conrona'rrou,

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Application lied December 1880. lerlal Io. 504,010.

This invention relates to constructions utilizing gaseous conductxon tubes as the source of light. y

Signs constructed of this t of material i inherently present certain d1 culties to replacement which have heretofore made them rather impractical for advertising purposes where frequent changes in the sign were necessary.

It is the principal urpose of this invention to provlde a novelconstruction whereby it is possible to utilize a series of readily interchangeable units to make up the sign.

More specifically, it is the purpose of this invention to provlde a sign construction in which the characters are made up of individual units each constituting a character complete in itself and carrying its own high tensioned equipment in comblnation with a novel mounting' means whereby the sign characters may be removed and replaced without danger from the hi h voltage nry to operate the tube an without regard to the lateral position of the character in the sign.

g5 I will describe one form which my invention may take by reference to the accompanying drawings wheren Fig. 1 is a front view of a sign character employed; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through a sign mounting showing the manner in which the characters are applied.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the numeral 3 refers to a sign character made up of glass tubing having a gaseous filling and equipped with electrodes in the usual manner. This sign tubing may, of course, be made into any character deslred, but my invention is particularly applicable to signs wherein the characters are in the form of letters or numbers and their associated indicat-V ing devices for conveying infomation. This tubing is supported upon a mounting plate 4 by means of the insulating supports 5 and 6 into which the ends of the tubing extend and the standards or saddles 7 and 8 which support the tube intermediate its ends in spaced relation with the mounting plate. The insulating supports ,5 and 6 as shown are slottedl at 9 to receive the end of the tubing 50 and have an insulating illing 10 which is preferablyin the form'of an insulating and more or less yielding compound which is also wate roof'so as to protect the terminal lead 11 which extends from the end of the tube to 55 the sulpply cable 12. These insulators may suitab y be so constructed as to be readily mounted on the plate 4 such for example as by screwing into the sockets illustrated at 13.

On the back of plate 4 there is mounted a w transformer 14 which may be constructed of the appropriate electrical characteristics for the tubing mounted on the plate 4. .This transformer forms a part of the unit and has the primary leads 15 and 16 thereof leading a5 to a pair of connecting elements 17 and 18 that extend out through the back plate 19 which forms with the front plate 4 a complete housing for the transformer and the wiring connections. The connectors 17 and 18 have 7o a pair of ring prongs for each one such as indica at 20 and 21 which prongs are adapted to receive therebetweenthe bus bars 22 and 23. The bus bars are connected directly to the ordinary lighting circuits at l5 110 volts A. C. These bus bars may be suitablv supported for example by supports 24 and 25 secured in any suitable manner within the sign box 26.

This sign box has grooves at 27 along the 80 bottom and 28 along the top so that all that is necemary in mounting or changing a character is to insert the lower edge of the lighting unit frame into the lower groove27, push the unit back into place so as to make contact with the two bus bars 22 and 23, and then turn the locking lug 29 into vertical position so that it lit-s within the groove 28.

Some of the advantages obtained by this construction will now be set out in detail. W

One thing that is noticeable is that each letter' or character is complete in itself and ready to operate. The'high tension wiring for the high voltage necessary to illuminate tubing of this character is completely enclosed thus greatly reducing the hazard of lire and personal injury.

Labor incident to inserting or removal of a unit is reduced to the minimum as the low tension circuit is automatically made or broken when the letter is putin or taken out.

There is no necessity of screwing in a bulb l as in the case of the standard electric lights.

The unit in itself is waterproof at all points except the cont-acts 20 and 21 to the low tension bus bar, and these are protected by a supporting sign box.

Bus bars 22 and 23 extend the full length of the sign face. Hence there is no fixed position in which a unit .must be placed laterally although the upper and lower edges of the sign box do position it in direct alignment with other units so inserted. Thils makes it possible to space the letters wide or close as desired and to make the letters themselves wide or narrow. It is also evident that on such part of the open front of the sign box 26 where no characters are desired to be shown, such as spaces between wards and the like, may be closed by blank plates constructed of various widths of material and substantially corresponding to front plate 4 with the locking lug 29. This construction also is advantageous in effecting an economy in tube construction. Since there is no fixed point at which the tubing must terminate on the letters, the tubing can be designed to a minimum length without excess over the visible design to connect with the terminal points.

This construction also enables the units to be made in a factory under better supervision and more uniform conditions so that a better product is assured.

While I have perhaps stressed more the interchangeability of the characters, it is obvious that permanent signs can be built up with these letters if desired, and that the buses 22 and 23 may be of a material such as ordinary parallel wires rather than heavy rigid bars. A permanent sign of this character would have a greater salvage value in case of change of ownership or change in article advertised since only the letters and connections would need to be changed, the box and supporting frame being useable.

By insulating the mounting of the .tubes and securing them in the insulators which pass through the front panel 4, this panel may be made of metal or any other desired material, and also a fewer number of intermediate supports are necessary forv the tubing.

In case of failure of any piece of tubing, the sign need not be out of operation except menaces for a very short time when the bad tubing can be -replaced with a substitute unit thus giving greater service to the owner of the In case of failure of any unit, the whole sign or a grou of letters connected in series according to t e common construction need not be out of operation, merely the unit requiring repair orl replacement from spare stock units, thus giving greater service to the owner of the sign.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A. sign construction comprising in combination an open faced housing having therein spaced low voltage bus-conductors and a lurality of individual sign units each havmg a sign character composed of gaseous conduction tubing, a background plateY for said character, a transformer havin its high potential leads directly Vconnecte to said character and having means on its low voltage leads for ready contactwith said bus conductors, a housing member cooperating with said plate tohouse the transformer andits leads, and cooperating means on said housing and background for locking said units in position, said background completing the closure of said housing.

2. A sign comprising an open faced housing having therein spaced parallel low voltage conductors, and means fo'r closing the open face of said housing and displaying a sign legend, including interchangeable units each having a background plate closing a portion of said open face, and having on one side thereof a sign character formed of gaseous conduction tubing and on the other side thereof a transformer and a cover therefor, and terminals on said cover adapted to engage said conductors when the unit is set into place with the background closing a portion of said open face. p A p 3. A gaseous conduction tube unit for use in signs requiring frequent changing comprising in combination a mounting plate having means for securing the same to a sign supporting structure, saidA plate having spaced bushings therein of insulating material. said bushings carrying a gaseous conduction tube in the shape of a sign character for which character said plate serves as a background, a transformer on the other side of said plate and connected through said bushings to said tube, a casing cooperating with said mounting plate to enclose said transformer, and terminals for said trans' former projecting from said casing.

4. A sign construction comprising a sign box having its front face open and having mounted therein a pair of spaced low voltage busses and replaceable sign units for said box comprising characters of gaseous conduction tubing, individual mounting plates for said CLAUDE E. FITCH. 

